Sonny Red was an altoist, but not a great one. He was often lost in the shuffle during the 1960s and 1970s. In Detroit, he worked with Barry Harris (1949-1952), and in 1954 switched to tenor with Frank Rosolino. Later that year, he joined Art Blakey briefly. He was a well-known recording artist in New York in 1957. Red, despite some freelancing and recording with Pony Poindexter and Donald Byrd in the 1960s, was largely forgotten by the 1970s. Allmusic
